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The New Regionalism and the institutional framework of the regional cooperation in the Western Balkans
Šindelář, Jan ; Králová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Šístek, František (referee)
The presented thesis is analyzing the regional cooperation in the Western Balkans (WB) focusing on interactions of local actors. Theoretical background is based on the new regionalism, a theoretical approach to regional interactions. Contemporary studies on New Regionalism (NR) actually do not consider the Western Balkans to be part of this process and as a result we lack sufficient information about the basic characteristics of this region. The author proves that the WB is engaged in the process of the new regionalism and in fact by focusing on the institutional structure he demonstrates that several parallel processes are ongoing in the region as for example regional cooperation, integration or cooperation with another region. For the purpose of this research two projects of regional cooperation were chosen, South Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) which are regarded as the main pillars of the political cooperation in the WB. By examining their structure we may understand the relevance of the region as an independent actor and the general aims of the regional cooperation.
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Transitional Journalism as a Practice in the Balkans: Media coverage analysis of the Kosovo-Serbia Conflict
Weizman, Jakob ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Dimitrov, Michal (referee)
Bibliographic note Weizman, J. (2023). Transitional Journalism as a practice in the Balkans media coverage: analysis of the Kosovo-Serbia conflict, 114 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Supervisor prof. Adrian Brisku, Ph.D. Abstract Serbia and Kosovo have been under conflict since the beginning of the 1998-99 Kosovo war, when Serbia carried out ethnic cleansing against Kosovo-Albanians, leaving over 12,000 dead and almost a million displaced. Since then, Kosovo has declared itself independent since 2008, however, Serbia refuses to recognize its breakaway province. In the past 25 years, the media in Kosovo has undertaken a role that is different from that of a traditional 'Western' journalist.' Journalists undergo efforts to contribute further to the de-escalation of the conflict and deliver justice to the victims. Transitional journalism (TJ), as a newly emerging research agenda in the Western Balkans, seeks to uncover how media has affected, and been affected, by the ethnic lines and scars stemming from the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, such as in Kosovo. Transitional journalism, as a product of weak institutions and failure to deliver justice, is further identified empirically in this dissertation, through a mixed-method...
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Geopolitics of faith: Russian Orthodox Church in Western Balkans
Maraš, Darija ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
The study seeks to explore the Russian Orthodox Church's influence on the Western Balkan region from 2005 to 2014, using the soft power theory pioneered by Joseph Nye. The existing cultural ties between majority Orthodox countries in the region and Russian Orthodox Church created an environment that is prone to cultural influence coming from the Church. Using Joseph Nye's description of the public diplomacy mechanism (which is behind soft power application), this work analyzes Russian Orthodox Church activities in the region, establishing that Serbia appeared to be the most prioritized in the Church's public diplomacy, followed by Montenegro, North Macedonia and Republika Srpska respectively. As soft power theory assumes, its application must bring out certain changes, that are produced by the power of attraction. Not surprisingly, Serbia adopted a number of laws that correspond to the stimuli coming from the Church, with less success in the remaining three countries, but with visible results associated with the Church's public diplomacy. The work solidifies the notion that the Russian Orthodox Church has a measurable effect on certain political outcomes in the Western Balkan countries.
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Learning Curve of the Conditionality of the EU's Enlargement Policy - the Role of the "Good Neighborhood Principle" in the Case of Border Disputes.
Lipská, Jana ; Šlosarčík, Ivo (advisor) ; Kasáková, Zuzana (referee)
DP JANA LIPSKÁ Abstract The thesis examines the policy of good neighborliness as one of the conditions for the accession of (Balkan) countries to the EU. As it is an unanchored concept, the thesis should focus on its development and the possibility of its enforcement as a conditionality. It is its enforceability that the EU has at least partially achieved after the enlargement to Croatia in 2013, or by modifying the conditionality in 2018, when the settlement of bilateral disputes became a condition for the admission of the new state. This paper explains this change in conditionality and what led EU officials to make it. The EU has also changed its role in these disputes. It has moved from being an active mediator to a passive position from which it primarily motivates the parties involved in the dispute to resolve it. The EU demonstrates its role as a normative power, which is what it uses conditionality for. The basic premise is that previously the EU has tried to intervene more and resolve such disputes, while at the same time it accepted states that have not resolved them. The Union has learned from this and its policy has changed to less involvement but more emphasis on resolving such disputes. This thesis recalls the fundamental turning point that led to the decision of EU leaders, which was Croatia's...
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The European Union and the democratization of the states of the Western Balkans
Havránková, Lenka ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Vlček, Václav (referee)
This diploma thesis concerns itself with the influence of the European Union on the democratization of two Western Balkan states, namely Serbia and Albania. The goal of the thesis was to determine which mechanisms and instruments the organisation uses in these cases and how effective these instruments and mechanisms are. For these purposes, the theory of Jon Pevehouse was chosen, because it introduces nine tools in total that all regional organisations have for the puropose of democratization of candidate or member states. In the case studies of Serbia and Albania were then identified seven out of nine of these mechanisms in the political area, the rule of law area and the area of human rights and freedoms. These mechanisms are pressure, socialization, financial assistance, legitimization, deterrence of losers, creating commitments for winners and institutional change. At the same time, the real impact of these mechanisms on the democratization process in these states was assessed. It was determined that the effectivity of these mechanisms is unfortunately limited by, for example, the lack of political will to implement the adopted reforms in practice. On the other hand, it was determined that some of the instruments and mechanisms were used insufficiently or incorrectly, which then influences the...
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Comparison of the EU accession process of Croatia and Serbia: chapters 23 and 24
Trunečka, Adam ; Martinková, Viera (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
Although most countries of the Western Balkans are in various stages of the EU accession, their progress is slow compared to that of the Central and Eastern European countries that have joined so far. Many indicators and authors point to the deteriorating state of democratic institutions in Montenegro and Serbia - the frontrunner candidate countries in the Western Balkans. This raises questions about the functionality of applying conditionality on these countries. The European Commission regularly evaluates the accession countries' advancement in Progress Reports. The aim of this work was to assess how the Commission evaluates the progress of Montenegro and Serbia in Chapters 23 and 24, which are closely linked to the issue of democratic institutions and the whole principle of conditionality. Using quantitative content analysis, individual pieces of information on the interannual progress of these countries in 2012- 2020 were coded and converted into corresponding positive (indicating improvement) and negative (indicating regression) values. Their averaging then resulted in a group of indexes for individual aspects described in the relevant Chapters as well as indexes for the Chapters as a whole. At the same time, a special Democratic Institutions Reform Index (DIRI) was calculated. The relevant...
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Impact of Serbia-Kosovo relations on the accession of Serbia to the EU
Stuchlík, Petr ; Knutelská, Viera (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
The bachelor thesis is concerned with the use of political conditionality in the EU accession negotiations with Serbia. The work focuses on the topic of Impact of Serbia-Kosovo relations on the accession of Serbia to the EU by a case study. The European Union uses its influence on Serbia to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo. The European Union attaches great importance to the stabilization of relations in the Western Balkans region and proves it in this theme. European Union has become moderator of the normalization of these relations, which seeks to influence Serbia's decisions by incentives and achieve the normalization of relations between these countries. A relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which has been part of it by 2008, were complicated for a long- time. The deterioration of these relationships, however, occurred after the unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo. The aim of this study is to analyze the behaviour of Serbia in the process of normalization of these relations and to evaluate the influence of the European Union on this process. The thesis uses theory of international socialization and assesses which model of this theory is the most appropriate for this case. The work evaluates the whole process of normalization and answers set out questions in the...
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The European Union and the adoption of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Kosovo: the role of material interests and shared ideas
Procházka, Karel ; Karlas, Jan (advisor) ; Kučerová, Irah (referee)
The thesis seeks to examine the underlying motivations behind the conclusion of the Stability and Association Agreement between European Union and Kosovo on the 27th of October 2015. To determine the role of material interests and shared ideas in the process of concluding the SAA the thesis discusses and applies rationalism and constructivism, both grand theories of international relations. To test the theories and their respective hypotheses identifying the role of the relevant concepts, the research employs a single case study method, using a congruence analysis approach. In conclusion, through the rationalist lens within the perspective of the EU, the thesis confirms the existence of material interest in the conclusion of the SAA, representing security, power and economic gains. To complement the analysis via a constructivist lens within the perspective of Kosovo, the thesis solely implies a limited role of identity and norms while it points out that such constructivist concepts rather impeded the reaching of the SAA, veiling the actual role of material interest.
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New regionalism and the institutional framework of regional cooperation of the Western Balkans
Šindelář, Jan ; Králová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Šístek, František (referee)
ŠINDELÁŘ, Jan. Nový regionalismus a institucionální rámec regionální spolupráce Západního Balkánu. Praha, 2013. 101s. Rigorózní práce (PhDr.) Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd, Institut mezinárodních studií. Katedra ruských a východoevropských studií. Vedoucí diplomové práce PhDr. Kateřina Králová, Ph.D. Abstract The presented thesis is analyzing the regional cooperation in the Western Balkans (WB) focusing on interactions of the local actors. Theoretical background is based on the theory of new regionalism, a theoretical approach to regional interactions. Contemporary studies on new regionalism (NR) actually do not consider the Western Balkans to be part of this process and as a result we lack sufficient information about the basic characteristics of this region. The author proves that the WB is engaged in the process of the new regionalism and in fact by focusing on the institutional structure he demonstrates that several parallel processes are ongoing in the region, as for example regional cooperation, integration or cooperation with another region. For the purpose of this research two projects of regional cooperation were chosen, South Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) which are regarded as the main pillars of the political cooperation in...
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NATO enlargement to Western Balkans and its strategic importance
Tesařová, Šárka ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Karmazin, Aleš (referee)
This Bachelor thesis deals with the analysis of the development of the integration of Albania and Croatia into NATO structures. The first part describes the NATO open door policy along with the accession criteria and accession process. The key part is the analysis of whether and how the candidate states have fulfilled the established accession criteria based on the criteria of the NATO Enlargement Study, focusing in particular on selected factors - national political situation, public opinion, defence expenditure, professionalism, interoperability, diplomatic relations and cooperation with NATO, involvement in missions and relations with neighbouring states. It also examines the strategic interests of NATO in the Western Balkan region, and NATO may have been motivated by an attempt to strengthen its position in the Balkans. The outcome of the thesis is the assessment of the preparedness of the individual candidate states, where neither Albania nor Croatia fully met the accession criteria and the final decision of NATO was therefore more based on political judgment and strategy in the Balkans.
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